Hey there! Welcome to the Hurwitz.tv “Leaders” interview series, where we chat with the leaders in tech and business to discuss the latest industry trends and developments. In this series, you’ll hear from CEOs, CTOs, and other thought leaders as they share their insights on everything from AI to Investing.
In this interview, we talk to Omer Glass, CEO and Co-founder of Growthspace.
What productivity tips have helped you significantly?
- You hear all the time about the 80/20 rule, and I try to apply it in my day-to-day life to make sure I am focused on the right things. That’s why I invented “The rule of 3” – at the beginning of every month, week & day, I write down the 3 most important things I would like to achieve. It helps me prioritize the things that matter from the noise.
- As a CEO you have a lot of tasks to do and emails/Slack messages to respond to. In order to respond fast, but not to spend all my day on comms, I created the 2-minute rule – if a task/comms takes less than 2 minutes to complete, I complete it on the spot. If it takes more than 2 minutes, I’ll add it to my Jira.
- Lemon law – this is a concept we introduced to Growthspace, taken from the TV series “How I Met Your Mother” – if in the first five minutes of a meeting, I see that I am not adding value to the meeting or it doesn’t add value to me, I will “lemon law” and leave the meeting. Every employee at Growthspace can do it.
What are some mindset tips you need to have when running a business?
- Be optimistic. You must believe that everything will work.
- Be transparent. Share the good news and bad news often. That’s the best way the people you work with or invest in you will trust you.
- Lead by example. Do you expect other people to do whatever it takes? They need to see you do that first. That’s the best way to build culture.
What are some of your favorite books or articles that have impacted the way you think?
- “Purple Cow” & its sequel “Free Prize Inside” by Seth Godin – both teach you how to build remarkable, differentiated products and services.
- “No Rules Rules” by Reed Hastings – the best book about how to build and implement culture, based on a Netflix case study.
- The hard things about hard things” by Ben Horwitz – about how to be a better CEO & entrepreneur.
Who is someone who has really impacted your work? It can be a family member, friend mentor, public persona, etc.
My Co-founder & Growthspace’s COO, Dan Terner taught me multiple invaluable lessons about being a good entrepreneur & CEO.
What are your thoughts on the future of technology and how it will impact business?
The pace of technological advancement increases, and will transform the business in every aspect we can think about. I think the interesting thing about it is that it will force us all to be faster, more agile, and nimble in order to accommodate it. Those who will be able to adapt will survive and thrive.
Who would you love to have lunch with?
Alex Honold (free solo) – one of my favorite climbers, famous for being the first man to free solo “el capitan”. His combination of being fearless and doing whatever it takes to succeed is inspiring.
